The snow finally arrives--BIG TIME!!!!

I know I haven't been too active at posting, but to be honest, there was not much to post about in November. We had a very dry month, and a couple of ski areas even had to delay their opening by a few days due to lack of natural snow. The snowmakers did an EXCELLENT job of making due with very limited help from Mother Nature, but with daytime highs running in the 60s, there was only so much they could do.

All that changed last week. At my house, I got about a foot of snow over the first weekend of December, but then we had a MAJOR windstorm on 12/3 (hurricane force winds even blew part of the roof off my house!). Since then it has been snowing almost CONSTANTLY until today. Monarch Ski Resort received 65 inches of snow in a 48 hour period during one part of this storm, and Crested Butte has received something like 8+ FEET of snow in the last week!

This picture was taken off the east side of my deck in a lull between 2 storms--we received another 6 inches or so that night! That table in the lower right corner of the picture (that is buried under snow) is a 60" oval shaped picnic table--not a small table. This should show you how much snow has accumulated in the last week!

I have not been out skiing yet this season, as I injured myself trying to mitigate some of the damage to my roof during that wind storm, but I have talked with many friends who have been up already, and conditions right now are LEGENDARY! We are now above average in terms of snowpack, and more is forecast. I don't think anyone should worry about snow conditions at this point!

Wax up the boards and get ready for a great winter! THINK SNOW!

Steve

SKI SEASON OPENS TODAY!!!!!!!

Just FYI--Arapahoe Basin Ski Area opened for the season today (10/10/07)--the earliest opening in its 61 year history. More info can be found on their web site at http://www.arapahoebasin.com/. They have an 18 inch base of man-made snow.

While we have only had a couple of dustings of light natural snow up to this point and our daytime highs have still been in the 60s, at night our temperatures have been dropping into the 10s and 20s. With very low humidities, these are IDEAL conditions to make man-made snow.

I have not been up there to take any new pictures recently (will do so as soon as I get a chance), but below is a picture of Breckenridge Ski Area that I took last week. Notice there is not really any snow on the slopes yet, but you can see the remnants of our recent dustings at the top of the mountain.

This was the entrance to my neighborhood about a week ago--right after one of our little storms:

As soon as I can get up to A-basin to take a few shots, I will post them here. In the meantime, I will keep you posted as other areas start to open (Loveland and Copper Mountain are also making snow right now, and Breckenridge and Keystone should be starting up pretty soon). I would expect Loveland to open within another week or so, Copper is supposed to open in early November, and Keystone and Breck will be opening by the middle of November.

In the meantime--KEEP THINKING SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve

It begins.....

For those of you still stuck in the "dog days" of summer, I just want to assure you--the end is near! Here at 10,670 feet above sea level in Central Colorado, we are pretty much at the height of the fall colors right now! Plus, we have gotten a couple of light dustings of snow at the peaks. If there IS any such thing as "normal", this seems to be about 2 weeks ahead of what we would normally expect. Who knows what this means in terms of the upcoming ski season, but it is always a good sign!

No one is trying to ski on any of this yet, but it does bode well for things to come! Here are a few pictures of the new snow that I took yesterday (9/17):




The resorts have not been able to start snowmaking operations yet, as it has been far too warm at this point. Our daytime highs have still been getting up towards 70 degrees, and most nights it is still not dropping down to freezing yet (at least on the valley floors), so not exactly what you would call snowmaking weather right now. I would expect to see Loveland and Arapahoe Basin opening about a month from now though, so I expect to see them start up operations in earnest within the next couple of weeks.

I will let you know as soon as we start up snowmaking operations for the season. Until then, THINK SNOW!

Steve

Welcome to the 2007-2008 season!

I know, it's still early September, but our main summer season is winding down up here right now, and we are now starting to think more about the upcoming winter. The firewood suppliers are really busy right now, and those of us who live up here are dusting off the snowblowers ready for the snows that are certain to start arriving within the next month. It's always a good sign when you see ads in the local newspapers hiring snowmakers for the upcoming season! We will most likely be starting snowmaking operations up here in about 3 weeks or so!

Personally, fall is my absolute favorite season up here! Since I grew up in Florida, I was not exposed to fall colors very often in my youth. Now, even though I have lived in the mountains of Colorado for 20 years, I still never tire of nature's spectacular show in the fall. Just to remind you, throughout this post I have attached a few pictures that I took last fall. In September, the days up here are typically cool and crisp, with highs in the 60s and low 70s, and the air seems to sparkle somehow. I know that sounds crazy, but others have told me the same thing--somehow the angle of the sun and the colors of the trees combined with the crisp, clear air makes the sun just dance off any surface!

For those of you interested in booking a last minute fall colors trip to Colorado, it should be spectacular this year. No one can predict for sure, but we have had a very wet summer, which typically leads to more brilliant colors in the fall. An added bonus is that a wet summer means that the ground will freeze easier, meaning that it SHOULD be easier for early season snows to stick to the ground. Typically our fall colors peak around the last week of September to the first week of October, but that can vary by as much as 3-4 weeks depending on the year.

Up here we have a saying--the only people who try to predict the weather in the mountains are fools and newcomers. Well, hopefully I am neither, so I am not going to try to make any predictions here. However, all signs are pointing towards another great ski season!

As we start seeing signs of fall colors (a few trees are starting now, but not enough to be "photo worthy" just yet), I will take some pictures and post them here. In the meantime, keep checking back on this site, and I will let you know as the snow begins to fly and the slopes begin to open.

It's not too early to say--THINK SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve